Retention time mechanisms enable special requirements to be set in order to prevent a file from being deleted prior to a pre-defined date. One implementation of a retention time mechanism is a secure deletion mechanism that uses an encryption key to encrypt a file's data, thereby enabling unrecoverable erasure of the data by deleting the encryption key. By erasing the encryption key (i.e., on or after the pre-defined date), the file becomes inaccessible in a manner that does not provide a restoration option.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.